Let’s Appreciate These 15 Times Commander Shepard Was a Badass Before They’re Replaced by Ryder

Part of what made the Mass Effect games so memorable, was having a hero that could be both sympathetic and badass at the same time. Commander Shepard is a player created, and choice driven hero, but has a personality of their own. We’ll take a look at some of the most memorably badass moments Shepard had. Just be aware, there are spoilers ahead.

Shepard isn’t someone to balk in the face of overwhelming odds, or even the relentless questions of the press. However, if you dig a little too far, the Commander isn’t just going to let things slide. The reporter Khalisah al-Jilani found this out the hard way, when getting punched straight in the face by Shepard. The renegade choice lets you lay out this nosy reporter, and there’s even a chance to do so in all three games.

After saving the galaxy a couple times, Shepard managed to build up quite a reputation. You can even put this reputation to use in the citadel by giving a voice clip to a shop stating” I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel.” Even better, you get a discount by doing so. Nothing wrong with that right?

Spectres are the most elite warriors in all of Citadel space, carrying out essential missions across the universe. It’s a rare honor to be chosen as a Spectre by the Citadel Council, something that Shepard pulled off brilliantly. It’s just a notch on the Commander’s road to greatness, and they wear the N7 armor with pride.

Shepard just naturally breeds confidence and loyalty from their team, but even still tempers can flare up. This is especially true in the first Mass Effect when the party finds out some startling info on the Krogan Genophage on Virmire. Your Krogan party member, Wrex, blows up threatening to cause some serious damage. With the right choices, however, Shepard can use their silver tongue to talk their powerful ally down.

Commander Shepard isn’t a fool, but even they can get taken advantage of. This happens when a shady bartender named Forvan serves Shepard a poisoned drink on Omega. You can just walk away from the scene after waking up, but the Paragon and Renegade actions are much more satisfying. Paragon incites the crowd against him, while Renegade makes him consume his own drink. Either way the bartender loses big time.

A certain strange twist in Mass Effect 3’s Citadel DLC sees a perfect clone taking Shepard’s place and wreaking havoc by posing as the Commander. It’s incredibly satisfying to take down the clone and the Cerberus operative helping them, Maya Brooks. There’s even a catch line thrown out when Brooks tries to run and says “Maybe you’ll miss me,” to which Shepard responds “Not at this range I won’t.” Perfect.

The very first piece of DLC for the Mass Effect series really upped the ante, tasking Shepard and crew from stopping an asteroid put on a collision path with the human colony Terra Nova. Things come down literally to the wire, but Shepard can pull of the mission and take down the Batarian terrorists just in the nick of time.

Commander Shepard’s journey was certainly a long and arduous one, as they struggled and scraped to prepare the galaxy for the reaper invasion. There’s no better payoff of all the work Shepard put in, than finally seeing the preparation come to fruition in Mass Effect 3. The Commander gives the mark to commence the attack, as they and the Normandy lead the massive armada they’ve assembled to Earth to combat the Reaper horde.

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Commander Shepard

Part of what made the Mass Effect games so memorable was having a hero that could be both sympathetic and badass at the same time. Commander Shepard is a player created and choice-driven hero, but has a personality of their own. We'll take a look at some of the most memorably badass moments Shepard had. Just be aware, there are spoilers ahead.